Finally after 2 crappy entries, I have something useful to write here. It concerns the upcoming conscription of the batch going in on 11/12/13 Jan. Girls, you may choose to read it for amusement or for the sake of understanding the agony that your fellow male citizens have to go through to serve the country.Based on accurate and reliable first-hand information from our comrades-in-arms who have been released from Resort Tekong for the holiday season, I have compiled a list of essential information for all to take note of:
1. BMTC consists of 20 companies (Coys), namely Alpha,Bravo,Charlie,Delta,Echo,Foxtrot,Gryphon,Hawk,Kilo,Leopard,Mohawk,Ninja,Orion,Pegasus,Raven,Scorpion,Taurus,Ulyssess,Viper and Whiskey (yes, Whiskey). Coys A to K are in Sch 1 while the rest are in Sch 2.
2. For us who are enlisting on 11/12 Jan, those posted to Sch 1 will go to either Coy F or H. Those posted to Sch 2 will go either Coy L,P,S,U or V.
3. Given that the legendary Coys of Mohawk and Ninja are already been occupied (fully or partially, I'm not sure) by PTP comrades, the possibility of the rest of us being posted to these coys are very low. Intelligence from Sch 2 reports that while Coy L is empty (gasps!), Coy P is already half-full.
4. If you remember me telling you not to buy the insurance that NTUC is going to sell to you during BMT, delete it. Intelligence reports that the SAF has ceased to purchase individual insurance and thus each comrade has to make effort to safeguard his life. Aviva and NTUC will be in BTMC to advertise their policies but analysis has shown that Aviva has a better offer. Don't put your life at risk!
5. It has been observed that book-out times and duration will vary widely and will be highly inconsistent and unpredictable. Do not expect standard Friday-evening-book-out-Sunday-evening-book-in routine. A queue system is in place and each coy gets to draw lots to book-out at different times of the day/week to prevent congestion at the ferry terminal. Book-out duration varies from 1-1.5 days for a normal week. Good news is Sch 2 is nearer to the ferry terminal. Bad news is it is extremely difficult to organise gatherings amidst our free time for our civilian classmates to examine our botaks.
6. Since the nature of the BMT training schedule is of 24/7, there is no lack of quality time for the Platoon Sergeant and recruits to interact with each other. High-level intelligence gave reports of incidents whereby the PS plays with the recruits that is deemed as highly motivational and unheard of in the civilian world. Do be prepared for this and pray that the tree on top of the hill will have a short and nice message for you to be conveyed to your PS when he asks you to run there and talk to the tree.
7. Swearing is part and parcel of military life. Like what I say, if you don't swear, learn to live with it. You'll cry if you don't hear more than 5 profanities in a day. Not of sadness, but of happiness. Worse have been heard, said a close source. So comrades, start swearing now.
8. 6am is the flag-raising time and 6pm is the flag-lowering time. So don't go empty the rubbish at these times, not if you want to stand stationary in the rubbish dump for the flags to go up/down.
9. Sch 2 cookhouse serves Western food every week. Not sure of Sch 1.
10. Last but not least, when you are reporting at Pasir Ris, please try to be earlier than the stipulated time. Chances are if you are late, your parents will be separated from other parents who will be touring YOUR facilities and will be forced to combine with a later group for the rest of the tour.
So, that's all for now. Hope it's useful for all. At this point of time, I would like to thank our fellow comrades-in-arms for sacrificing their precious vacation to be call upon for Duty before us and providing us with so much valuable intelligence, so that we can be prepared better. I hereby salute thee!
P.S. You might have realised it, but we are already paying adult fares starting from 1 January 2007. Great, what a way to enter "adulthood". Now my heart is still bleeding from the fact that the bus trip from KAP to my house costs $1.25. There goes my NS allowance.
chengxi bUbBlEd aT 12:17 am on 03.01.2007
Ok, here's the analysis for the previous entry:Intro: It can be simplified that GENERALLY, liberals support human rights and conservatives support property rights.
If you said NO, you are a liberal.
"As long as the African American has the money to buy the property, the seller has no right to refuse to sell. Notice that liberals are not unappreciative of the property right. Clearly, they insist that the prospective buyer have the amount of money asked by the seller. With that condition satisfied, however, the liberal's position is predicated on the assumption that an African American is morally equal to any other person. The emphasis here is definitely on human rights."
If you said YES, you are a conservative.
"While racial prejudice is unfortunate, if property owners insist on refusing to sell their property to a particular person on the basis of racial prejudice, they have every right to do so. Why? Because it is their property. Here the conservative recognises the conflict between human rights and property rights, but the property right obviously supersedes the human right; property ownership holds forth over equality. The conservative, unlike the contemporary liberal, might even argue that the property right is one of the human rights. Even if that were the case, close scrutiny of the conservatives' attitude toward various human rights would show them insisting that the property right dominates all other human rights."
Convinced? This is just a small test to gauge your political attitude only, so it doesn't matter if you are not like that in everyday life. There's another question: Should you be able to shoot a person who is breaking into your home? Think about it!
Happy New Year!
chengxi bUbBlEd aT 5:14 pm on 01.01.2007
Hi everyone I'm back from Formosa. I'm quite surprised to see that it's still ME who is updating. All right, clearing all the cobwebs in progress...I was reading this political science book that I brought to Taiwan and was particularly attracted by one question that the author posed to the reader. It's like those that you see on people's blogs saying you-are-a-....sort of revealing your character. Never believed in these things but the following should be intellectually-stimulating for you to think about:
If I were to ask you whether you have the right to refuse to sell a piece of property to an African American, what is your view? Yes or no? (Think of yourself as a White living in a period where racism is common)
There are only two answers to this question, and each reveals your position in the spectrum of political attitude. Though there're only two answers, it's very convincing. You can tag or keep it to yourself, I will reveal the analysis on New Year's Day.
P.S. If you're wondering what have I bought in Taiwan, being the typical me, I've bought a street directory. Can borrow from me if you plan to go next time. :)
P.P.S. And yeah, if you're wondering if I've sensed the 7.2 magnitude earthquake, yes(and twice it came!). I was in the hotel room (Grand Hyatt, beside Taipei 101) watching Hitch and EPL when my bed and the walls began to shake (for about 10s). Quite an experience though.
Happy Holidays!
chengxi bUbBlEd aT 9:32 pm on 05.01.2007
As I was searching for a good book about Singapore history in WRL, I chanced upon this awesome piece of work:"Why teachers quit?!" by Enzo Liow (Unusual name this is :P) (Singapore Collections 371.10095957 LIO)
which I believe is one of its kind because:
THIS IS A BOOK THAT NO MOE BUREAUCRAT WOULD WANT YOU, A POTENTIAL MOE TEACHING SCHOLAR, TO READ. (I specifically referred to bureaucrats because I know not all in MOE are !#$%@$%#@%$@).
A sincere and true account of an ex-trainee/relief teacher for 7 months, it gives us a peek into what problems current teachers in the Singapore Education Service face and provides an explanation as to why him, and many other teachers quit.
Although it is not written in "bombastic" vocab and structure we often see in lengthy thesises trying to explore similar concepts in vain, it is penned in a language close to our hearts and with words that echoed the sentiments of thousands who have gone through the system.
You may find at certain points, it contains excessive lamentation and inadequate solutions. However, each chapter is written short & sweet. (Don't worry, it's written in a light-hearted tone!)
For many times, far too much attention has been emphasised on the glamour and glory of scholarships/jobs. It's time we consider the things that are not made known to us, at least, directly.
chengxi bUbBlEd aT 8:20 pm on 09.12.2006
CHALET PLANS
4th Dec
meet at eunos mrt at 1pm!
girls pass bags to guys
jy lead guys to check in at downtown east
girls head for ubi for hairstyling and makeup
guys set off anytime they want
girls not gg ubi with us must find their own way to deposit their bags at chalet, either meet us at 1 at eunos, or go downtown east urself put ur bag, or find somewhere to put ur bags at ritz carlton (i called ritz the onli way to deposit ur bags is if u have a room, so maybe look for frens who booked rooms at ritz)of course, after prom we'd go downtown east in the bus hanbao got. pple who deposited their bags elsewhere must collect it and be back with the class by 11.30.
5th dec
escape (currently v cheap tix at $6)
or wild wild wet ($12)
swimming/cycling also can
5-6+ start bbq
THINGS TO BRING
PROM TICKETS! (for goodness sake dun forget to bring this)
dark coloured clothes (for girls in case going wild wild wet)
swimming gear (if u want)
class T!!! (1st intakers guys can bring baby pink t girls baby blue t :P)
cds (i try bring radio cum cd player)
movies (xuet try bring portable vcd player)
laptop (if not too ma fan this is good!)
any bbq related stuff (just bring anything u've got that'd help cut cost, like disposable utensils, tongs watever...)
ice cube holder?
lastly and v importantly,
WE ACCEPT DONATIONS! anyone feeling guilty that they've not contributed enough to the class can help in $$$ ways =P cos we're currently running on tight budget, any amount will be appeciated. donations of finger food during bbq will also be appreciated. egg salad, bread, tuna... or nutella to add on to marshmallow.... ANYTHING ALSO CAN! so just find me to make ur contribution now!
of course....
THX XUET FOR HELPING SO SO SO MUCH!
THX XIU FOR ORGANISING ALL THE PROM STUFF!
THX HANBAO FOR BBQ!!!!!!!!! HANBAO ROX!
THX TW FOR SUPPLYING THE FOOD AT SUCH A CHEAP RATE!
THX JUNYI FOR HELPING TO CHECKIN!
THX CY AND YY WHO CONTRIBUTING SOME FOOD FOR BBQ!
THX CHENGXI FOR HELPING IN CONTACTING!
did i miss out anyone?
IS YOUR NAME MISSING IN THE LIST? DO U WANT UR NAME UP THERE TOO? MAKE YOUR DONATION NOW!!!
ning bUbBlEd aT 3:14 pm on 02.12.2006
